Year 2 Days 332 to 362 The End Of A Journey

I apologize for not keeping up our blog this last month. It has been hard to sit down and write about what we have been doing this last month as we traveled from the San Francisco Bay area to Tucson, Arizona, with a brief stop in Southern California. It’s been hard only because our 11 years of sail and then RV adventures are coming to an end. Mentally, I have probably been trying to put off our terminal date but, like in life, time marches on and eventually catches up and then surpasses you. Half of me is sorry to see an end to our very adventurous lifestyle. However, another part of me is anxious to return to a more normal way of life and once again become part of a community where we can get immersed in local activities.

Tomorrow, December 29, 2018, we sell LeuC. We got a call today saying that the Tucson La Mesa RV has received a check from their corporate office for the amount we agreed upon. When we drive or to the Tucson dealership, sign the papers and hand over the keys, our days of adventure that have taken us around the world and around the US will be at an end. It will be the formal end of our nomadic days. We have bought a house up in Blaine, Washington, nestled up to both the Canadian border and the Puget Sound. This means that we will be returning to the more normal lifestyle of living in a house and establishing roots.

I am so thankful that we bought LeuC 16 months ago and roamed around the US. Not only did it allow us to spend time seeing friends and relatives who live across this country, but it also gave us a chance to transition to living on the land. That may sound strange to you but there is such a radical difference between living on the sea and living on the land. Additionally, it also allowed us to explore and spend time in so many beautiful national, state, regional, county and city parks. This country is so diverse geologically, geographically, and socially that LeuC allowed us to steep in the various cultures that make up the US. During our travels we visited 32 states and, in each state, we had the opportunity to evaluate whether or not we would like to live in it. We finally found what is the perfect location for us in Blaine, Washington.

Blaine is perfect for us for a number of reasons. First, it is situated in a very scenic location. The Pacific Northwest, and especially along the Puget Sound, is renowned for its beauty with tall spruce and fir trees, lush vegetation, snowcapped mountains, and the crystal clear, dark blue waters of the Puget Sound which is dotted with sailboats, motored boats, ferries and massive cargo ships plying the waters.

Yes, it does get a fair amount of rain, with an annual average of 40 plus inches. However, we discovered that Blaine gets less yearly rain than Houston, TX (48 inches), New Orleans. LA (60 inches), Mobile, AL (65 inches), Memphis, TN (52 inches), Nashville. TN (48 inches), and pretty much every major city on the eastern seaboard, such as New York, NY (43 inches), Philadelphia, PA (41 inches), Miami, FL (58 inches), and Boston, MA (44 inches). In addition, after living on a sailboat for about 10 years, we have discovered that rain does not bother us the way it did back in the days we lived in sunny Southern California. Go figure!

The second reason Blaine is perfect for us is that we have tons of family that live in the vicinity. This includes my oldest brother and his wife, who live just a block or so away. I also have many cousins and their families who live in and around Seattle and along the western coast of Washington. I also have a younger brother who lives in Portland, Oregon, just a 5 to 6-hour drive from us. Mary Margaret has one niece with her family who lives in Seattle and another niece with her family that lives in Portland. This is the most family we have ever lived near during our entire lives!

Finally, Mary Margaret found us a beautiful large house, sitting on the 5th fairway of the Semiahmoo Golf Course that has a view of snow-covered Mount Baker in the distance. As it turns out, it is the largest house we have ever owned and will allow our kids and grandkids enough room to feel comfortable when they come and visit us. Trips to visit Grandma and Grandpa are already scheduled for this summer by all three of our kids and their children. Yea!

We wish to thank all of our blog readers who have followed our travels, both on sea and on land. We are especially thankful for the various comments and emails you sent. It was wonderful to know that we were connected with you, no matter where we were at.

If you are ever up in the vicinity of Blaine, Washington, please look us up and let us know you are in our area. We would love to have you come over so we can get together and reminisce over old times and places you and we have seen.

Share this:

Like this:

Related

5 thoughts on “Year 2 Days 332 to 362 The End Of A Journey”

I’ve so enjoyed reading about your travels David over the past 8-9 years with both your sailing and RV’ing Your early blog inspired me to learn to sail and my wife and I have now bareboat chartered about 10 times now in both the Med and in the Caribbean.
Although originally from Scotland we have taken early retirement and relocated to Southern Spain where the temperature suits us both. That said we are now looking at buying a boat and cruising for 2-3 months of the year.
Good luck with your new home and we wish you the best of health and happiness for the coming years.
King Regards
Gordon

Thank you for all the work you put into chronicling your life on the sea and on the road. After following you for at least the past 7 or 8 years, enjoying and looking forward to each new post I wish you all the best in Blaine. Make it a great New Year FHagar SV Mocakyki

Dave and mary margret- wishing you a happy new year filled with many more adventures based around your new mooring. If you ever never a return to the caribbean don’t hesitate to reach out. Im blessed to have followed all your journeys and spent wonderful time with you.

May you enjoy your final life of leisure in Blaine. We also have taken to the land living after many years of travelling. We have one foot in the door though with a caravan, and plan to drive up to Brisbane and Queensland from Tasmania each winter, but also with a house just big enough for the kids to visit (but not to decide to live with us!). Loved reading all your blog entries, and meeting up with you in Australia. (We used the “stick on shade stuff with the little holes” on our hatches, and then bought a similar product for the inside of the side windows, and it was the best thing we did for keeping the heat out of the boat, thanks).

I’ve followed your adventures from the beginning & have enjoyed having you as part of my routine (reading your blog over a cuppa). Thank you for all the effort you put into writing, you have truly inspired me!

Please write an occasional post to keep us up to date. I’ll check back occasionally. If you every travel my way (Newfoundland) please look me up.

Our Past Life

If you would like to read about our 10-year adventure sailing around the world on our lovely sailboat, Leu Cat, CLICK HERE

Search for:

My Brother’s Are Explorers Too!

Dave’s Dad and Mom were very adventuresome and instilled the wanderlust into his soul. They did the same for his older Brother, Don, and his youngst brother, Del. Follow their adventures by clinking on Don’s blog CLICK HERE or Del’s website:CLICK HERE